Tolkien Week Sep 23, 2026

Most landmarks were built by history. This one was built for a story. Hobbiton Movie Set sits in Matamata, New Zealand, on a working sheep farm that caught the eye of filmmakers scouting locations for The Lord of the Rings in 1998. The hills already looked Shire-like; round doors, tidy gardens and curling chimneys completed the illusion. The set was later rebuilt for The Hobbit films and became a destination for those eager to step into Middle-earth.

© djr-photography/Shutterstock

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